System, method, and computer-readable medium for user equipment registration and authentication processing by a femtocell system

Abstract

A system, method, and computer readable medium for processing registration and authentication procedures by an IP-based femtocell system are provided. The femtocell system includes a base transceiver station and a Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter. The femtocell system receives a registration message from a user equipment, issues a location update request on behalf of the user equipment, transmits a register message to a core network, receives an authentication request from the core network, and transmits an authentication challenge to the user equipment.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method, comprising:
 issuing, by the base transceiver station of at least one femtocell to the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell, a location update request on behalf of the user equipment; 
 conveying an authentication request by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell to the base transceiver station; 
 receiving the authentication request in the base transceiver station of the at least one femtocell; 
 generating an authentication challenge from the authentication request in the base transceiver station of the at least one femtocell; and 
 transmitting the authentication challenge from the base transceiver station of the at least one femtocell to the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting, by the at least one femtocell, a register message to a core network, wherein transmitting the register message to the core network further comprises transmitting the register message including an IP Multimedia Private Identity and an IP Multimedia Public Identity associated with the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving an authentication request comprises receiving the authentication request and a random value used to authenticate the user equipment. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting, by the femtocell system, a base station acknowledgment order to the user equipment; 
 transmitting, by the femtocell system, a registration accept order to the user equipment; and 
 transmitting, by the femtocell system, a mobile station acknowledgment order to the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, by the core network, the register message to a traffic control subsystem. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , further comprising obtaining, by the traffic control subsystem, a random value from a home location register with which the user equipment is registered, wherein the random value is used for authenticating the user equipment. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the femtocell system, an authentication challenge response from the user equipment. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising transmitting, by the femtocell system, the authentication challenge response to the core network. 
     
     
       9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for execution by a processing system, the computer-executable instructions that:
 issue by the base transceiver station of at least one femtocell to the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell, a location update request on behalf of the user equipment; 
 convey an authentication challenge by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of the at least one femtocell to the base transceiver station; and 
 transmit the authentication challenge from the base transceiver station of the at least one femtocell to the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions that receive an authentication request comprise instructions that receive the authentication request and a random value used to authenticate the user equipment. 
     
     
       11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising instructions that cause the processor to:
 transmit a base station acknowledgment order to the user equipment; 
 transmit a registration accept order to the user equipment; and 
 transmit a mobile station acknowledgment order to the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising instructions that:
 transmit a register message to a traffic control subsystem, wherein the register message includes an IP Multimedia Private Identity and an IP Multimedia Public Identity associated with the user equipment to a core network. 
 
     
     
       13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , further comprising instructions that obtain, by the traffic control subsystem, a random value from a home location register with which the user equipment is registered, wherein the random value is used for authenticating the user equipment. 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising instructions that cause the processor to receive, by the femtocell system, an authentication challenge response from the user equipment. 
     
     
       15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions that transmit the authentication challenge response to the core network. 
     
     
       16. A system, comprising:
 a packet-switched network; 
 an Internet Protocol Multimedia subsystem communicatively coupled with the packet-switched network; and 
 a femtocell system communicatively coupled with the packet-switched network, wherein the femtocell system includes a base transceiver station and a Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter; wherein the base transceiver station issues a location update request on behalf of a user equipment that is received by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter, wherein the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter transmits a register message including an IP Multimedia Private Identity and an IP Multimedia Public Identity associated with the user equipment to the Internet Protocol Multimedia subsystem, conveys an authentication request by the Session Initiation Protocol to Internet Operating System adapter of at least one femtocell to the base transceiver station, and receives the authentication request and a random value used to authenticate the user equipment from the Internet Protocol Multimedia subsystem, and wherein the base transceiver station transmits an authentication challenge to the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the base transceiver station transmits a base station acknowledgment order, a registration accept order, and a mobile station acknowledgment order to the user equipment. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 16 , further comprising a traffic control subsystem, wherein the Internet Protocol Multimedia subsystem transmits the register message to the traffic control subsystem. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 18 , wherein the traffic control subsystem obtains the random value from a home location register with which the user equipment is registered, wherein the random value is used for authenticating the user equipment. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the base transceiver station receives an authentication challenge response from the user equipment, and wherein the femtocell system transmits the challenge response to the Internet Protocol Multimedia subsystem.